the (sometimes) joys of global flows

Yesterday was pretty eventful. In a nice way, but also in a way that has me thinking about just how interconnected certain places have become, and how normalized these connections really are.

I had a great lunch meeting with a PhD student from UvA's ASSR, discussing our research together over koffie verkeerds en warme geitenkaas broodjes (that's wrong coffees and warm goat's cheese sandwiches - yum!). Later she showed me to the UvA anthropology and sociology library, which is in an old VoC building on the Kloveniersburgwal, and introduced me to another colleague, who sent me some pdfs of a book that I had kind of glanced over about a year and a half ago while in Canada, but would probably find much more useful and interesting now. (Yay for helpful people!)

After that I cycled over to the De Groen Olifant cafe, where I met with a new friend who is writing a book about the celebration of NYC's 400th anniversary and the Netherlands' involvement in those events. It's going to be really cool. Mostly interviews with peope who were somehow involved with organizing the event, on both sides of the Atlantic.

And then after that I went with my flatmate to the movies. We were planning to see the latest apocolyptic blockbuster 2012, but it was quickly selling out. So, rather than seeing another mainstream flick from Hollywood, we decided to check out what was happening at the IDFA - the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam. I am actually really glad we did. At 6 Euros for admission to a film, it was less expensive than a regular film, and definitely something I don't get the chance to see everyday. We went to see Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam. It was a really interesting, funny, and well-made documentary, and I would encourage everyone to check it out. (And not just because it was made by a couple Canadians, and features a couple media clips with Canada's CBC 'boyfriends' Jian and George... which, not gonna lie, made me pretty excited.) Oddly, I think Taqwacore was one of those things that I saw was happening in Toronto while I was here, and I was a little bummed about missing. Now, if only Anna Tsing would come give a talk here in a month or so... Maybe if the tradewinds are blowing in the right direction?